A/N: This one was a bit tough to write because we're starting to get into the events of "Better Angels" and "Beside the Dying Fire," but I didn't want to give you a chapter full of direct dialogue from the show :x there's some direct dialogue in here, so I'm just going to go ahead and make a mini disclaimer: those aren't my words. They are the beautiful words of the lovely and talented Evan Reilly and Glen Mazzara. Please don't sue me because I love you and I have nothing :|

I also want to let y'all know that I lied and there are most likely going to be 13 chapters of this story total. Once again, thank you to everyone who's reading and reviewing/following this story. Hearing your feedback absolutely makes my day, and I love you all :] now here we go!

Chapter 10

Daryl had to admit that it was one of the best nights of sleep he had had in a long time. Possibly the best one since the world had gone to hell. He could see that he had slept later than he was used to (but still ungodly early compared to everyone else) by the sun streaming orange through the window and lighting up the small room. Never one to linger long after waking up, he made to move before realizing that Carol was still at his side.

Well, tangled up in him would probably be a better way to describe it. She had managed to pull him even closer during the night, jumbling their legs together and draping her arm over his waist. She was warm and soft and impossibly fragile in his arms, and he abruptly realized that he had no idea what the hell he was doing.

He wanted this. He wanted her. It was something that had been building up between them for weeks, something he couldn't deny any more after all they'd been through. Something about the way Carol had been so willing to stand in the rain and freeze her ass off for Cheryl the night before had reassured him that he was making the right decision.

She was one of the few good things left in this world and he had to protect her.

Daryl realized that he'd probably never figure out what Carol saw in him, so he'd just have to thank his stars that she had decided to want him. But the problem was that he had no idea what this was. What was he to her? The word boyfriend sounded so embarrassingly awkward that he regretted even thinking it, but lover didn't sit quite right either. And how was this going to change things? He assumed she would ride with him if they ever left Hershel's farm in a caravan, maybe even tent with him. Hell, he was planning on crawling back into the RV bed tonight if she'd let him. It was far more comfortable than his bedding on the hard Earth and her company was preferred to whatever creatures wandered the forest at night.

Would she want to tell the group? It wasn't really necessary in his opinion; let them think whatever they want. He'd probably only need to make it clear if some unlucky son of a bitch tried to put the moves on her. Carol wouldn't expect public displays of affection, he assumed. Ed had never done anything of the sort. In fact, he was willing to bet that Ed never showed her any affection, public or otherwise.

At the thought, his grip on Carol tightened protectively. That was the worst part. She had already been through hell with the last man in her life and the thought of her going through that pain again tightened his gut. Daryl would never hurt her on purpose, of course. Not like Ed had. But he seemed to have been doing a good job of hurting her without trying when he went off into the woods and hid after Sophia's death. Dixons had tempers, they built walls, and they hurt people. That's what his father did, that's what Merle did, and he knew he had the capability to do it too.

But as he looked down at the sleeping woman in his arms, the affection he felt for her overpowered his fear of hurting her. Maybe it was selfish and stupid of him to want her when so many things could go wrong, but right now he didn't care. He had made her a promise last night and he fully intended to keep it. And maybe that made him just a little bit different than his father and Merle.

He was far too awake at this point to continue lying there, so he slowly untangled himself, his movements careful so as not to wake her, and slipped out of the bed. Daryl missed the warmth of the woman beside him immediately, but he had to hunt if the group wanted fresh meat. There was a bitter chill in the air and he paused before leaning down and carefully sliding the thin blanket up to Carol's chin. 'Better than nothin' he thought briefly before turning and carefully tiptoeing out of the RV.

Shane was settled on the roof of the vehicle for watch duty and Daryl realized that they must have sent someone back out in the middle of the night after the rain finally stopped. He wasn't surprised when Shane caught his eye but made no gesture to say hello; they had never really gotten along and their argument in Hershel's dining room was still fresh in both their minds.

Daryl spent the next couple of hours in the woods, sloshing through the mud and the puddles that the storm had left behind. His tent had surprisingly withstood the rain and he was thankful to find his jacket bunched up under the nylon, warm and dry. But even with it tightly wrapped around him, the chill of quickly approaching winter seemed to cut through him like a knife. The forest was wet, cold, and frustratingly empty, but he pressed on until he barely had any feeling in his fingers. With a curse he finally gave in, resolving to raid one of the clothing stores in town for better winter clothes on their next scavenge, and headed back to the farm.

Most everyone was awake and working by the time he got back and he only had time to deposit his crossbow into his tent before Rick had found him.

"Can I talk to you?" he asked.

"Sure," Daryl responded, and the two headed to the porch of the farmhouse. As Rick unfolded a map before them, Daryl settled on the railing.

"It's time we took care of Randall. We've been puttin it off long enough, but it's gettin colder and Hershel's movin us in the house. Everyone's spending the day packing up camp and movin in, but we gotta take care of business. And I want you to come along with me."

Daryl nodded in agreement as Rick went on about driving Randall about an hour away and dumping him there. Same plan as before, just better execution.

"This whole pain in the ass'll be a distant memory. Good riddance." Daryl remarked as Rick folded up the map.

"Carol's puttin together some provisions for 'em…enough to last a few days," Rick mentioned, and Daryl couldn't help but stiffen at the sound of her name.

Maybe he should have gone to see her before he talked to Rick. Just to let her know that he was back and the empty bed he left her in wasn't a bad sign. No, he was being stupid. Rick needed him at the moment and Carol would have understood. Maybe he'd have a chance to see her before he and Rick took off…

They both looked up at the sound of a car coming down the gravel, Shane behind the wheel. Rick tensed beside him. "So you're good with all this?"

"I don't see you and I tradin haymakers on the side'a the road. Nobody'd win that fight," Daryl said with a shrug.

Shane stepped out of the car and began walking towards them. At the same time, Daryl spotted Carol exiting the house, probably after delivering the provisions Rick had mentioned.

"I'ma take a piss," he blurted out quickly, and left Rick and Shane alone to talk.

He followed behind Carol closely enough for her to know he was there, but not closely enough for them to talk, and was surprised when she veered left and headed towards his campsite. He followed behind her at a set pace until she crawled into his tent and he found himself pausing and staring at the nylon as if it might explain her behavior to him. Finally he sighed and crawled in after her.

The ground was soft and damp from the water that had seeped in from the surrounding area, but she lay flat on her back in his bedding, hands folded under her head, eyes closed. She was imitating him and it was funny, confusing, and irritating all at once.

He slowly crawled over top of her and while her eyes stayed closed, a corner of her mouth twitched slightly upwards.

"Trying to figure out why you stayed out here by yourself all this time," she said, as if he had voiced the question. "Even the floor of the RV is better than this."

He smirked. In the silence, she cracked one eye open. "I woke up and you were gone."

Daryl exhaled slowly. "Went huntin," he said. "I don't sleep too late these days."

Both of her eyes were open now and she moved her arms to reach up and toy with the collar of his shirt. "I figured. I wasn't surprised…just a bit disappointed. Would've been nice to wake up to you this morning." She dragged her gaze from his collar to his eyes and he briefly wondered if her talent for seduction was new or just something she had kept well hidden.

"We're movin in the house…" Daryl said, but trailed off when he realized he didn't know how to end his thought. Should they try to get a room together? Share floor space? Share a damn sleeping bag? He didn't know what the best option would be for him, for her, for the group in general; he just knew that he needed this woman as close to him as possible.

"Looks like we are," she whispered, and she lifted her fingers to his face, following every crease and line with a soft touch, as if she was trying to memorize it for future reference.

Her movement was so tender, so different from anything he was used to, that he shuddered slightly under her touch. Her fingers trailed down his cheek, ghosted over his neck, and came to rest over his pounding heart. She had paused for only a second before he came crashing down onto her.

She received him eagerly, hands running through his hair and holding his mouth to hers. He swiped at her lips with his tongue and she opened her mouth to allow access. One of her hands found the zipper of his jacket, yanking it down quickly and delicate fingers explored his chest and abs as he gripped her hips tightly. Moving from her mouth, he placed kisses down her jaw and attacked her neck, kissing, biting, and sucking as much skin as he could reach.

It wasn't until she lifted her hips and bucked against him, whether intentionally or without thought, that he froze and shifted his gaze back to her eyes. She was panting and her eyebrows knit together in confusion.

"What's wrong?" she asked, the huskiness in her voice not quite masking all of the concern.

He swallowed and sank his face into the crook of her neck to avoid her gaze. They were doing this on the cold, hard ground in a tiny tent in the middle of a yard. He was preparing to take a kid out to the middle of nowhere and leave him there to his certain death because the only other option was killing him. It was getting colder, more dangerous, and he had finally found something to cling to that could easily be taken away from him with one careless mistake.

Plenty of things were wrong.

"What is this?" he heard himself mumble into her neck. He didn't think she heard him at first, but she wrapped her arms around his waist.

"Whatever you want," Carol said quietly. "We can keep it a secret or shout it from the rooftops. We can give it a title or keep it nameless. We can decide right now or figure it out as we go along. I don't care what this is. I just want you, as long as you'll have me."

Daryl looked up at her and could see a calm but serious look on her face. He felt heat creep into his cheeks as he mumbled, "I want'chu too."

A smile broke out on her face. "Good. What do you want to tell the others?"

He shrugged. "We don't need to tell em nothin. They're smart…prob'ly figure it out on their own when we ride together 'n bed near each other…"

Her cheeks tinged pink and she nodded in agreement. "And what should we call it?"

Daryl paused before finally saying, "We're together."

"Together?"

"Yeah. And you're mine."

"That also means you're mine, you know," she teased.

"Shoot," he said, a smile forming on his own lips. "Ain't like you got competition here anyway."

She blushed again and he leaned in to kiss her, long and slow. When they finally broke apart, she let out a sigh before opening her eyes.

"You have to go."

He bit his lip and nodded.

She smiled sadly. "I'll pack up your stuff, if you want. Move it into the house with my things…"

"I'd like that," he murmured.

She was quiet for a moment. "And you'll be careful while you're out with Rick?"

He hated seeing that look of fear on her face. "O'course," he said firmly. "It'll be fine."

She pressed a quick kiss to his jaw before he pulled away and lifted her to her feet. They left the tent and walked back across the yard, side by side now, to the blue truck that T-Dog and Rick were preparing to transport Randall. T-Dog looked between the two of them suspiciously as he handed Daryl a gun, but he only said, "You only got so many arrows," before walking towards the shack to collect Randall on Rick's orders.

Daryl turned over the gun in his hands and realized it had been Dale's. Swallowing a lump in his throat, he stuck the gun in his belt and grabbed his crossbow from the bed of the truck. Carol lifted her fingers and gave his free hand a tight squeeze before turning and heading back towards the house. He was still watching her make her way back when T-Dog starting yelling that Randall was gone.

A jolt went through Daryl's body as he threw down his crossbow again and made a beeline for the shack, Rick following closely behind him. They searched the room, but could only find Randall's handcuffs in the small pile of bedding they had left for him. Daryl cursed and stormed out the door, passing Andrea who had heard the commotion and joined the search. He glanced around the area, but found no sign of the boy they had been keeping prisoner.

The rest of the group was pouring out of the house, probably after seeing the four of them pacing around the shack in distress. Carol and Maggie were in the lead.

"What happened?" Maggie called.

"Randall's missing," Rick yelled back.

The yard exploded with sound as everyone spoke over each other, asking questions, expressing fear, or trying to form a plan. Daryl was about to tell them all to shut it, but Shane came storming out of the woods at that moment with a bloody nose, screaming angrily for Rick.

When Shane reached them, he started spewing a story of Randall jumping him and taking his gun. Daryl smelled bullshit immediately; there was no way that a scrawny thing like Randall could take down a man of Shane's size, but he remained silent. No matter how it happened, Randall was loose on the property and something had to be done about it. He glanced over to Carol as he went to retrieve his crossbow and saw that Cheryl and Julie had caught up to her. The three were clinging together and practically shaking, and Daryl had to focus his attention back to Rick to keep from running to them and taking Carol in his arms again.

"Don't go out there," Carol pleaded to Rick, Shane, Glenn, and Daryl as T-Dog and Hershel tried to usher everyone back inside. "Y'all don't know what could happen!"

But her protests were ignored as the four armed men marched off towards the woods. Daryl risked one last glance back at Carol to find her staring back, panic clear in her eyes. Before Andrea turned her around, he gave a reassuring nod that he hoped would say everything he couldn't tell her.

Everything's fine.

It'll all be fine.